Ciara is Athlete of the Year

Ciara is Athlete of the Year

29 November 2023

PORTAFERRY superstar runner Ciara Mageean capped off a tremendous season by winning the Athletics Ireland Athlete of the Year Award in Dublin last week.

This marks the third occasion the 31 year-old has scooped the award in her sparkling career, having previously won in 2019 and 2022.

The difference this time around is that she shared the award with Irish U-23 athlete Rhasidat Adeleke, who also had a stand-out year throughout.

This proved to be a historic announcement as the pair are the first joint winners of the award.

Following the announcement, Adeleke stated on social media: “Honoured to receive athlete of the year alongside the legend herself Ciara Mageean.”

However, there was no sharing the Irish Track Athlete of the Year Award which Ciara also secured at the ceremony.

Earlier this year, Ciara placed fourth at the World Championships in Hungary and set a new Irish record for the 1500m race in the process.

Her time in Hungary clocked at a seriously fast 3:56.61 but amazingly, just over two weeks later, Ciara would shatter this time again for a mark of 3:55.87 in Brussels at the Diamond League final.

Ciara was up against stiff competition for her awards, fending off the likes of Sarah Lavin and Andrew Coscoran – who both had a record-breaking year – as well as relay runner Sharlene Mawdsley.

But, what set Ciara further apart from the rest was her multiple new records, having set blistering new times at the 800m (1:59.27) and one mile (4:14.58) events.

On a personal level, Ciara achieved a new best 5K time of 15:24.